


After Today

by Osservare



Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter/Funhaus RPF
Genre: M/M, Tags Subject to Change, Time Travel AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-10-16
Updated: 2015-10-26
Packaged: 2018-04-26 15:24:04
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,384
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5009911
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Osservare/pseuds/Osservare
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After a strange encounter with a young man in a purple hoodie and gifts of pink gaming handhelds, Ryan chases after the peculiar traveler, Ray. Much to his dismay, his efforts were in vain, only chancing upon the other man on few and random occasions while more mystique builds around Ray.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Big thanks to my beta lostinthehaywoods/TeasingIt! Finally, an original AU that I've come up with: time travelling!

The first time Ryan encountered this strange young man, he was only a freshman in college. Walking around the campus with his nose in a map, the stranger seemed to appear out of nowhere as Ryan bodily collides into them. 

He was dressed simply in a purple hoodie and plain jeans, with black-rimmed glasses and a beanie covering slightly curly black hair. The man looked like a student, maybe slightly older, of some sort of Latin descent but his skin an unusual lightness that muddled his heritage and spoke of a lot of time indoors. His build was small, more limber than Ryan’s lanky, growing body, but the other man seemed full grown.

After a moment of recovery, the young man looked about curiously with wide brown eyes and a contemplative expression. It took a minute for the other to register Ryan’s presence.

“Oh, shit! Sorry, man!” 

Ryan only shook his head frantically, stunned silent at the embarrassing encounter with a possible upperclassman on the first day. The other man didn’t seem fazed much, returning to assessing the environment around him. It was a crisp, warm autumn day in the south. Clear skies with a slight, fresh breeze. Honestly, the other man was a little overdressed for the weather. 

“What time is it?” the stranger asked suddenly.

“Uh, it’s almost 8:30.” Ryan answers, uncertainly.

“Date?” The other questions.

Ryan just looked puzzled at the other. After a moment of silence, the man elaborates, “Day of the week? Month? Year?”

Ryan’s confusion was understandable. Wouldn’t a student know the date of the first day of university? Better yet, the year. “It’s- it’s August 17th, 1998.”

The peculiar stranger let out a low whistle. He still seemed fairly distracted, brown eyes now squinting at building signs. Glancing back at his map, Ryan worried his lip, fighting his first-day anxieties.

“Excuse me.” The young man turned to Ryan at the polite address. “Do you know where this building is?” Ryan pointed at a numbered square on his map. 

The other man leaned in to look over Ryan’s shoulder, eyes briefly skimming the paper. A wry smile spread before he replied, “I’m really sorry, but I don’t go to this university.”

Ryan flashed a very perplexed look at the other as he elaborated, “Consider me just a visitor.” He looked at the map again, memorizing the number of the building and the name. “I can help you look for it though. Wouldn’t mind exploring the campus myself.”

Honestly, Ryan was a little freaked out by this guy, but it’d be rude to refuse his help. “Yeah, sure.” He ducked his head back to his map, and pointed to where he thought they currently were.

The other man nodded and began striding down the street, glancing at every sign but not checking behind to see if Ryan would follow. Despite his qualms, Ryan did.

“So, what are you studying?”

Small talk, with no introduction. Ryan was tempted to feign ignorance, and frankly he would have been able to get away with it, but his manners insisted he reply. “Currently entering as a theater major.”

“Entering? So you’re a- what do they call them- a first year?”

Ryan nodded with a small affirmative grunt. The other man began to ramble, “Hmmm, wasn’t able to go to school myself, but don’t think I would have been able to stick to it. I admire people like you, who go the whole ten miles finishing your degrees and stuff.” Ryan didn’t respond, thinking the other was speaking to himself.

They continued to walk in silence with only the ambient noise of other students passing by as the morning classes exchanged. Ryan was beginning to panic as the time before class started to dwindle.

"Is that the library?", Ray asked, pointing to a large building across an expansive, open field. Ryan glanced over in the direction before twisting his map to orient himself. “Yeah, I think so.”

“Cool! Is it open to the public?”

Ryan simply shrugged, having been unable to visit the library himself. The other man remained unfazed before quickening his pace. “I think I know where you need to go now.” 

As Ryan struggled to keep pace, the other man struck up the small talk again, “So what made you choose theater?” 

Rather surprised at the continued attempt at pleasantries, Ryan stuttered out,” W-well, I’ve always been a fan of the performing arts. Can’t say my parents really approve.”

The other man nodded, genuinely interested it seemed. “So, an actor?”

Ryan sputtered slightly at the word. “Not quite. Nothing as flashy as the up-and-coming television actors or anything along that line. No, I’m more inclined for the classic plays.”

“Haha, so I can’t expect to see your name plastered on billboards any time soon. I’ll tell you, the movie industry really booms.”

Ryan doesn’t doubt that, a small smile gradually growing on him. “Afraid not.” At the mention of names, Ryan properly introduced himself, “I’m Ryan by the way.”

The other man slowed to match pace with Ryan, a grin splitting wide, “Ray. Nice to meet you, Ryan…?” 

Puzzled by the other man’s- Ray’s- implied request to know his full name, Ryan hesitantly answers “Uh, it’s actually James Ryan Haywood. But I go by Ryan.”

It took a moment for Ray to reply, the man seeming to spend the time committing the full name to memory. “Nice to meet you, James Haywood, aka Ryan.” Ray grinned wider, almost to the point of laughing at his own odd antics.

Ray showed no inclination to reveal his full name, instead switching topics. “Ever heard of a Gameboy?”

Ryan couldn’t help the smile that spread across his face. “Who hasn’t? They’ve become quite popular amongst the tweens of our generation.” 

Ray seemed to cringe at the reply, eyes twinkling with some hidden mischief, but continued, “Do you own one?”

At this, Ryan slightly deflated, “Sadly, no. Parents want me to focus on school.”

The mischief in Ray’s eyes spread as the young man fished in his hoodie for something. “Here. Take it.”

He plopped a bright pink, bulky Nintendo Gameboy in the Ryan’s hand. Ryan gazed curiously at the object, holding it slightly away from himself as if offended. He’d never seen the Gameboy in this color, and didn’t understand why this complete stranger would gift him such a prized technology.

Looking searchingly to Ray for an answer, the young man just answered cryptically, “It’s getting kind of outdated for me. Plus it’s something you definitely don’t’ want to miss out on. It’ll get better too, but you should learn to play on the original.” Ray was smiling brightly, no sign of malignant intent despite his words confusing Ryan even more. “Just make sure the ‘rents don’t find out,” he said playfully.

As Ryan continued examining the new device, Ray abruptly stopped. “Here we are! Weber, Building 108.”

Ray pointed proudly at the sign outside the glass doors of the drab building. Ryan tucked his map and new Gameboy into his backpack before shouldering the strap back on. “Thanks for the help, Ray….?”

Ray picked up on the cue and smirks back, “No problem. And it’s Ray Narvaez, Jr.” He made to take off already, letting Ryan rush to class, “But that won’t matter.”

Ryan paused, catching Ray’s last words and shooting a curious look at the back of his newfound friend as Ray retreated down the street back towards the library. He wasn’t able to linger long, as class was about to start in a minute.

Much to his disappointment, Ryan didn’t see Ray on campus again. Although he never played it, Ryan kept the hot pink Gameboy always in his backpack. A quick check had revealed that the game cartridge inside was a strange game called Pokemon Yellow with save data of over 100 hours under the trainer name Ray. Strangely, the official release of said game occurred a month later in September and the release of the Berry Gameboy Color another month after that.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ryan's second encounter with the mysterious figure was brief and strange, but only strengthened his resolve to chase after "Ray" and learn what is the world is happening.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize for the shortness of this chapter; I honestly should have posted this with the first chapter since but I wanted to build a little more mystery...
> 
> Again, thank you to my beta, lostinthehaywoods/TeasingIt!

Fast forward five years and Ryan was out of college, working part time at a florist shop. Unfortunately, his acting career never took off and Ryan found himself taking odd jobs to make ends meet. The days were usually mundane and it was a particularly gloomy day when Ryan spotted a purple hoodie entering the glass storefront. It was raining constantly that day, bringing little in customers for Ryan. In fact, it was only him and this one customer in the shop at the time.

The purple hood was drawn up, thoroughly soaked and obscuring the patron’s face. Ryan stepped out of the counter to offer assistance as the customer stomped his sopping checkered shoes off on the entrance rug in an effort to dry off. Upon closer inspection, the man looked rather miserable, and Ryan pitied the other, as the chill of the store must be rather uncomfortable.

“Can I help you, sir?” Ryan prompted politely, letting his presence be known.

The customer’s head lifted up, gaze blurred by the water droplets clinging to the glass surface of his glasses. The man shot a quick smile before dismissing Ryan, “Nah, just trying to dry off a bit.”

Ryan nodded, letting the man recompose himself privately before stepping behind the glass counter once again and browsing through the technology article in the latest newspaper. He couldn’t help but sneak a few covert glances over the paper to watch the other man wipe his glasses dry with the hem of the purple jacket, lowering the hood to reveal slightly damp, dark hair. The young man glanced through the large display windows at the front of the shop, a frown pulling his features as he looked at the gray sky. Deciding it unwise to brace the weather, he stepped off the entrance mat and started wandering aimlessly about the shop.

Not once did the customer look to Ryan for help, allowing the man to silently observe. The man drifted over to the rose section and lingered. Witnessing the potential customer’s interest in the product, Ryan approached again. “Any particular rose you’re looking for?”

Slightly startled, the other looked at Ryan again, a strange look in his eyes. “Ah, no. Just looking.” He offered a small smile before shuffling awkwardly. Ryan was much taller than this young man, his shoulders broader and arms more muscular. At closer inspection, the young man had a scruff of a beard forming and strangely familiar brown eyes.

Ryan, now suspicious but aware of the other’s discomfort, backed down and returned to his post. After perching himself back on the stool behind the register, Ryan witnessed the other man look desperately outside once again. The rain showed no signs of lightening up, and the other man admitted defeat. He glanced surreptitiously over at Ryan before scurrying to a corner of the store.

Hidden behind the leaves of the display arrangements, Ryan had to lean to keep the young man in view. The stranger seemed to be fishing for something in his pocket, a relieved expression washing over as he pulled out a square object from his pocket. It was pearlescent pink in color and unfolded like a flip phone. The glow of the screen reflected in the young man’s glasses as he bunkered down with the device in hand.

Ryan’s curiosity grew as he focused further on the handheld, identifying it as Gameboy Advance SP. All the signs were there, but Ryan had spent years chasing people in purple jackets and glasses. With only a single encounter and years for the memory to warp and distort, Ryan wasn’t sure if he’d ever find “Ray” again. 

Once the first Pokemon game was released, Ryan had done some research, discovering that the single game cartridge in his unique Gameboy handheld didn’t exist yet. The unusual event had sparked his curiosity, but a month had already passed, disrupting Ryan’s memory of Ray. His curiosity continued to burn through the years, gradually placed in the back of his mind as other priorities took Ryan’s time. 

The matching signs were nagging at Ryan now, and the pink handheld further convinced him, but Ryan felt too timid to dare approach the stranger. After ten minutes of conflict, Ryan solidified his resolve, looking over to the side of the store to see the young man still sat in the same position. With careful movements, Ryan quietly placed the paper on the counter, attempting not to disturb the silence that fell over the flower shop. Treading quietly over to the young man, Ryan loomed a few feet in front of the stranger. 

With a strangled clearing of his throat, Ryan whispered, “Ray?”

The young man’s head shot up, eyes wide and almost frightened as they locked with Ryan’s nervous blue ones. The reaction empowered Ryan as he repeated, a little louder, “Ray?”

The other remained silent, frozen. Ryan continued, feeling a little foolish now, “It’s James Haywood. Ryan.”

Ryan abruptly stepped back as the man stood quickly, racing towards the door. “I’m sorry. This is too weird. I’m sorry.”

Much to his dismay, Ryan was too slow to stop him, watching the doors clang shut as a retreating figure faded into the gloom and rain outside. 

Without a doubt, that man was Ray. The one Ryan had recalled from five years ago. The purple hoodie, the glasses, the pink handheld, the large, brown eyes. Ryan grinned, happy to know the other young man existed, that he met him again, however strange the second meeting was.

Ryan returned to his seat, reflecting on the previous few minutes. A realization dawned suddenly upon him. Ray looked the same as he did that autumn day five years ago…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, I apologize for the length of this chapter, but I'm trying to build suspense? Why did Ray take off? owo I hope to have the third chapter written by Friday so that it will clear up any lingering questions. Thus shall end the overall mystery concerning this time travel nonsense and the true Raywood may begin!


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ryan begins to have more sightings of that purple hoodie, but it isn't until a mundane weekday at a drab convenience store that Ryan finally gets some answers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Currently un-beta'd. Will update when beta'd version finished, but I wanted to a post chapter around once every week and have been meaning to release this days ago.

After the flower shop incident, Ryan could have sworn he saw a purple hoodie around him every few occasions. Every time he tried to catch the eye of the wearer, they would disappear from sight. Across the street, through a shop window, in another booth at a restaurant; frankly, Ryan was starting to get a little paranoid. This pattern continued for half a year before Ryan was finally able to catch the young man, Ray.

That morning, Ryan stepped into the 24-7 convenience store with an electronic beep. It was 6:00 am, but his IT training mentor was strict on attendance. The plain store was rather empty, the bored cashier leaning back behind the counter looking tired himself and only two other customers at opposite sides of the store.

Ryan robotically moved to the coffee machine, a cheap dark blend but the boost he needed to get through the morning. The store beeped again at the entrance of another patron. Ryan paid no attention to the new customer, instead topping off his coffee. When turning to the cashier, Ryan noted that the third customer was by the newspaper rack. His grip slipped slightly on his coffee cup as soon as he recognized the back of that purple hoodie.

Hovering between snack shelves, Ryan peered at the figure, having enough conscious not to charge the wearer brashly – he had plenty of unpleasant encounters of misidentifying people who wore a similar jacket. This person had dark hair, a much shorter build than Ryan, plain jeans and…checkered shoes. Encouraged, Ryan started creeping closer to the figure, shuffling to the side in hopes of catching a glimpse of the person’s face. Once he was able to see a bit of the other man’s profile, Ryan identified those same black-rimmed glasses and the dark-haired stubble. 

The subject of Ryan’s scrutiny was clutching the newspaper tightly, face indicating concentration and slight worry. It was hard to tell, but his eyes seemed to be locked on the date of the daily newspaper. Not bothering to overthink it, Ryan boldly reached out to the smaller man, places a heavy hand on his shoulder.

As cliché as it is, time seemed to slow. Ryan felt the slight jump of the shoulder under his hand before the other man swiveled abruptly to look at him with wide, frightened eyes. Conflicting emotions battled for dominance at the moment, a mix of joy, panic, courage and embarrassment. But undoubtedly, that was the face, Ray’s face, looking at Ryan. 

“Ray,” Ryan said confidently, never loosening his grip on the other man in fear of letting him slip away again. 

The other man didn’t respond beyond a slight flinch, eyes flickering between the strong hand on his shoulder and the doorway. 

It was in that moment of silence that Ryan realized he had garnered the attention of all the other occupants in the store, the clerk looking very concernedly at the two of them. A flush of embarrassment rolled over Ryan as his resolve started to wane. But looking at Ray, he knew it was Ray. He couldn’t let him escape again. 

“Please, don’t leave yet.” Ryan said miserably, grip loosening fully before dropping his hand to his side. “Please.”

And Ray was very tempted to bolt, the situation way too much for him to take. But one last look at this man, Ryan – he remembered him too – and he saw this look of pure desperation in the man’s clear blue eyes.  
The two stood at a stalemate before Ray replied softly, “Okay.” 

Shocked by Ray’s compliance, some excitement returned to Ryan, but he had enough peace of mind to remember their current location was unappropriate for dealing with the situation. He looked back at Ray, “Please wait.”

Again, to Ryan’s surprise, Ray stayed in the store as Ryan paid for his coffee. The attendant eyed Ryan suspiciously, but he tried to appease the clerk with a friendly, if a bit stiff, smile. Ray had returned the slightly crumpled newspaper to the stack before moving to the exit. Ryan panicked slightly as he watched the other man move around in his peripheries, silently wishing the clerk to hurry and give him his change. 

With coffee in hand, Ryan joined Ray at the store exit, uncertain of what to do next. It was Ray who spoke next, “It would be best we leave this place.”

The two stepped out of the store, shuffling to where Ryan’s car was parked and eyeing their surroundings to make sure they had privacy. The training Ryan needed to attend was nagging at the back of his mind, but he had perfect attendance up to this point and missing one day wouldn’t do anything beyond leaving a mark on his performance record. Talking with Ray took priority over the small transgression.

Placing his drink on the roof of his car, Ryan prompted, “You are Ray, right?” He already knew the answer to this though.

“And you’re Ryan.” Ray said flatly. There was still a certain uneasiness between the two, but both knew they needed to address this issue.

“You haven’t changed,” Ryan blurts out, forgetting to filter his rampant thoughts.

The other didn’t seem bothered, reaching behind to scratch his head slightly chagrined. “Yeah…”

“Why?”

“It’s a long story.”

“I have time.” A lie, but Ryan leaned back against his car, grabbing his cooling coffee before sipping it patiently.

Ray looked slightly lost himself, before taking a step back to lean against the store’s wall. “I don’t know if you’ll believe me, but despite everything strange that’s happened, you don’t seem to have given up.”

Ryan made no motion to dispute, allowing Ray to reluctantly continue, “In short. I’m, I’m a time traveler.”

He paused, waiting for some reaction to the absurd statement. Honestly, it was the first time Ray spoke that phrase in a long time and it felt awkward on his tongue. Looking up at Ryan, the man simply raised an eyebrow in interest. 

“You seem surprisingly okay with this.”

Ryan shrugged. “Not going to lie, that possibility had come across to me.”

At Ray’s dropped jaw, Ryan figured he best explain himself, “That second time we met, at the flower store I was working part time at, you didn’t look like you changed from my college years. Admittedly, my memory of you back then was a bit cloudy, but even now, you look the same.”

Ray nodded, knowing exactly what Ryan was talking about. “And then there’s this.” Ryan unlocked his car, popping his head in to pull at his work backpack from the passenger seat and unzipping the front pocket. Much to Ray’s shock, Ryan held out that antiquated Berry pink GameBoy. 

Tentatively, Ray reached out to brush the shining surface. “You’ve taken good care of it,” he said rather fondly.

“Yeah,” Ryan replied, a little embarrassed himself. “When you gave this to me, it was a month before this version of the GameBoy was released.”

Ray cursed under his breath. One slip up and this happened. Quickly, Ryan resumed, “It made me curious and I tried to find the game inside it. Pokémon Yellow?”

He allowed Ray to remove the device from his hand, watching the other man power up the game and hearing the tinny noise of the Pokémon start screen. A nostalgia-filled smile passed over Ray’s face as he clicked a couple of buttons. “My save data is still on here, after all these years…”

“Yeah, I couldn’t bear to override it.” Ryan couldn’t say it, but also kept the game untouched so he would have Ray’s name on hand. Frequently over the years, Ryan had to replace the batteries, making sure they didn’t corrode inside the relatively unused gaming handheld before booting it up to go through his routine of seeing the trainer name and his Pokémon party consisting of a Pikachu, a Charizard named Blaze, a Mew, an unhatched egg and two empty spots. All the Pokémon were level 100, but beyond that, Ryan knew nothing of the game, the trainer sprite still stood in Viridian City from the first time Ryan powered on the game. 

“I just can’t believe you kept it.” Ray gingerly shut the game down, handing it back to Ryan. He technically gave it to Ryan to keep. With a note of somberness mixed with dry humor, Ray said, “Of course my mistake had to be given to someone as inquisitive as you, Ryan.”

Ryan couldn’t help but smile guiltily at that, taking the Gameboy back before pocketing it in his jeans. “Why did you keep avoiding me? You were driving me crazy; I could have sworn I’ve seen you all over town these past months.”

“About that. It’s honestly freaking me out, too.” Ryan shot Ray a confused look. “When I have infinite locations in time and space, I usually never land in relatively the same time period and location. It’s been especially weird considering this is my third consecutive day to stay in the week of March 14th. It’s what, Thursday?”

Ryan nodded. That would explain why he had found Ray looking concernedly at the daily newspaper; it was to check the date. “I can’t control my power and keep zapping in and out of the century you live in. For some reason, each time I run into you. I almost never encountered the same person twice, not to mention multiple times, on my travels. I tried my best to stay out of your way, and that flower shop incident really spooked me, but when you approached me today, I knew this was unavoidable. I think it’s the seventy-third time I’ve been in this year.“ 

With Ray’s logic making way too much sense to Ryan, he gaped at the number. Suddenly the clanging ring of Ryan’s cell interrupted them. Digging for the small device in his pocket, Ryan fished it out to look at the screen. Of course, his boss. He looked apologetically at Ray, who just smiled sympathetically before settling more comfortably along the white brick wall he was leaning on. 

Ryan looked distressed, with frantic “Yes sir….I’m sorry. Yes, I promise I want this job. I’m sorry” spoken into the receiver of the blocky phone. Much to Ryan’s relief, Ray stayed, looking around the area in mild interest to give Ryan some privacy, despite catching every word of the half conversation. Finally, Ryan was able to hang up, looking quite saddened at Ray.

“I still have so many questions.”

Ray smiled sadly, “I understand. But duty calls, literally, huh?”

Ryan returned the somber smile. The time he had with Ray was cut so short. “Is, is there any chance we can meet up again?”

“I-I honestly don’t know Ryan.” Ray looked dubious. Truth be told, Ray was actually growing to enjoy Ryan’s genuine curiosity. At first the notion of connecting with another person frightened Ray. It was never good to build a relationship that could so easily be broken by the fickleness of time. But the odd coincidence with Ryan had planted a seed of hope that Ray refused to acknowledge; maybe if this trend continued, Ray would finally have a companion to talk to if he sought Ryan out during his time in Ryan’s century. But that was getting a little too optimistic.

Ryan looked absolutely defeated, stalling the action of getting into his car despite his sense of duty urging him to stop disobeying. Ray noticed the struggle and forced out, “You should get going.”

Much to Ryan’s dismay at hearing the words, he acquiesced, popping the driver’s door open before sliding in. Ray stepped off from the wall and approached Ryan’s car as he started up the engine. With a small rap on the drivers-side window, Ryan rolled down the window allowing Ray to say a few parting words, “Who knows? It’s been really weird. If this pattern keeps up, I bet I’ll be back in this century.”

Despite Ray’s encouraging words, Ryan pitifully tried, “You won’t be staying today?”

“Probably not.”

“Oh, all right.” Ryan turns to look at Ray directly, “Will you run again if we see each other?”

Ray’s smile widened slightly, “Nah. You’re only slightly creepy, slash stalker-ish.”

With that said, Ray stepped away from the car. The two didn’t know how to end their interaction. If Ryan said “see you later,” when exactly would be “later?” Instead, he just rolled up his window and pulled out of the parking lot with Ray watching after the car.

Surprisingly, it was only a week later before Ryan ran into Ray again…

**Author's Note:**

> Chapters will most likely be short with no set schedule for release. I also plan to update Wild World with a Halloween special at some point, but school has been rough and been kind of a weird funk lately. 
> 
> Thanks for reading!


End file.
